Storable chairs are often used for events with varying numbers or layouts to be able to accommodate participants during conventions, seminars or conferences. Typical storable chairs can include folding chairs which are easy to fold when not in use and can be stacked in a vertical orientation by laying them down on the ground or other flat surface and stacking one on top of the other. Stacking folding chairs allows for easy storage as they take up less room than traditional chairs. Depending on the venue, there may be thousands of chairs being stored so as to be able to accommodate a wide variety of events. Therefore the size of the chair, the ease in which a chair assembles, the ability to collapse or tightly store become some of the factors taken into consideration when choosing a chair.
Prior art stacking and nesting chairs have addressed some of the afore noted problems. U.S. Pat. No. 6,305,742 issued Oct. 23, 2001 to Spendlove et al. and discloses a folding chair has a support frame with a back support portion and first and second side supports extending to form front leg members. A seat is pivotally coupled to the support frame, and configured to pivot downwardly with respect to the support frame. First and second rear legs each have an upper member pivotally coupled to a lower member. The lower members are pivotally coupled to the support frame, and the upper members are pivotally coupled to the seat, such that the first and second rear legs include three pivot points and the rear legs fold onto themselves to a shorter length in a closed position. First and second folding systems link the support frame, the fold-down seat, and the rear legs together. The first and second folding systems including four-bar linkage systems with four pivot points and four linkages. At least one stopping member is coupled to the four-bar linkage system shaped and positioned to engage at least one of the linkages of the folding system in an opened unfolded position to provide a limited opened position.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,279,991 issued Aug. 28, 2001 to Atkins et al. and discloses a folding chair has a four-bar linkage folding system with four pivot points and four linkages, and a kick-out tab for urging the four-bar linkage system, and thus the chair, to unfold. A support frame forms a first linkage. Rear legs are pivotally coupled to the support frame at pivot points. At least one of the rear legs extends upwards from the pivot point on the support frame to form an upper extension, which defines a second linkage. A linking member is pivotally coupled to and between the upper extension of the rear leg and the seat to form a third linkage. A seat is pivotally coupled to the support frame and forms the fourth linkage. The rear legs and seat pivot with respect to the support frame between an open unfolded position, and a closed folded position. The seat has at least one engagement surface which is engaged by the upper extension of the rear leg when the chair is in the closed folded position. A kick-out tab may be attached to the seat to provide the engagement surface. The upper extension of the at least one rear leg contacts the engagement surface, or the at least one kick-out tab, urging the seat in an outward direction. The at least one rear leg forms a lever to urge the seat from the closed folded position towards the open unfolded position.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,857,379 issued Dec. 28, 2010 to Leng and discloses a folding chair, including a first folding support and a second folding support, the first folding support includes a first front leg, a first back leg and a seat, the upper-end of the first front leg is pivotally connected to the lateral front-end of the seat, the first front leg is pivotally cross-linked with the first back leg, the lateral side of the seat is slidably and pivotally connected to the first back leg; the second folding support includes a second front leg, a second back leg and a second horizontal bearing-rod, connection of the second folding support is similar to that of the first folding support.
Leng is also the inventor of U.S. Pat. No. 7,938,484 issued on May 10, 2011 which discloses a foldable chair includes a pair of front legs, a pair of rear legs, a seat and a backrest. The front legs and rear legs are hinged together to form a scissor-shape. The seat is hinged with the rear legs rotatably through a connecting piece fixed on the back of the seat. Each of the front legs has a connecting sleeve which can be slid along the front leg. The connecting sleeves are hinged to the seat. A protrusion is disposed on each front leg to stop the connecting sleeve to slide downwardly and keep the seat on unfolded position. The seat of the foldable chair can slide upwardly along the front legs.
Although prior art chairs address the ability to stack a folding chair in a narrow profile thereby reducing the amount of space required for each stack, the current prior art requires that the chairs be laid down on a flat surface so as to stack in a vertical upwards direction. Stacking the chairs requires that they be placed on a cart or dolly to move the vertically stacked chairs. These types of loads are heavy and cumbersome and often require multiple people to ensure they are moved properly. Furthermore the chairs are not self supporting and are in a collapsed format so they must be laid down or leaned against a support structure such as a wall. As such a user is required to lift the collapsed chair and open up the chair so that the chair can support itself.
Nesting of items and chairs in particular actually fit together in a horizontal fashion, where the chairs fit compactly together one next to the other. The orientation of a set of chairs can reduce that amount of space being utilized for storage. Furthermore the chairs are self supporting and do not require the user to lift the collapsed chair.
Thus a nesting chair which is a self supporting structure, does not stack vertically but horizontally, allows for multiple chairs to nest in an upright manner, can easily be moved, is partially engaged position and nests one after the other is desirable.